Starcraft: Recollection
by Gune
Summary: Thirteen hundred years have passed since the Brood War. Earth has been destroyed and a second pilgrimage of colonists have flooded the Koprulu sector, charting new worlds and territories. Mankind remains entangled in an endless war with aliens and itself
1. Reasonable Desertion

**Author's Note: Well. What to say. First off of course I do not own anything written down here except some names and a few plot devices. Starcraft is the property of Blizzard Entertainment. That said, let me give anyone who reads this a little history on this one chapter. First of all this one chapter is all there is of this story right now. I wrote this chapter a loooooong time ago back in 2002 or 2003. I can't really remember. Back then I knew next to nothing about the Starcraft universe. I still barely know anything now but let me just say that the weapons I had the characters use in the original version of this chapter were M4 Carbines and M9 Berettas. And oh yeah, no power armor either O_O. Why? Because I didn't know what anything was called. Impaler was a word I had never heard. Back then I was just pumped after beating my N64 version (I didn't know Starcraft was a CPU game before it came to N64...do not judge me...I didn't have the internet) of Starcraft and wanted to write something...ANYTHING to get all of the cool shit I had rolling around in my head out. I wanted to write a 200 page book and read it back like someone else wrote it. Obviously that didn't happen. This chapter is all that made it through my chronic procrastination. Well! Nearly seven years later I have dusted off the word file and made a few changes to fit the actual universe of the game. However, this story will not focus on any of the game characters. It takes place over one thousand years after the brood war so I think that makes pretty much all the game characters, save some of the protoss, dead. Mostly everything still goes down in the Koprulu sector though, with some added planets and brand new factions. For those who enjoy reading fiction about main characters PLEASE DON'T LOOK ELSEWHERE you'll learn to like my OCs ;_; lol...everyone needs to read this story and come to the conclusion that it is badass. I demand it! Well, honest opinions would be appreciated. That means please drop a review. PLEASE DROP A REVIEW...and we will all be rewarded with more chapters ^_^. **

**StarCraft**

**Recollection**

**Chapter One: Reasonable Desertion  
**

**Interview 01: Gavin Mathews**

"I remember when it happened. I remember where I was…who I was with…I remember…how they died." A disturbed voice flowed from a highly tense man covered in dirty clothes and a ragged dark brown overcoat.

A small broken down one-room apartment surrounded this unnerved man. He sat alone in the center of the building on its only piece of furniture, an old wooden chair that creaked under his weight. Gray dust and small rocks sprinkled down from the holy ceiling onto the man's short brown hair. Despair seemed to cry out from behind his eyes but his face made no impression upon the emotion. Only a cold lifeless glare remained stuck to his skin.

"You reporters and your…curiosity." The man sneered. "Cats aren't the only things a questioning nature can kill." His eyes centered on the small cylinder lens capturing his image. "You really want to know what happened back then? When the world was destroyed…reborn…" His eyes trailed off to the side, gazing outside the jagged stone hole in the wall. "…And then divided."

He unwillingly looked back into his past life as his mind forcefully flashed gruesome images of hundreds of men and women being ripped to shreds by an onslaught of automatic rifle fire. He took a moment to collect his thoughts, staring down at the insect infested floor and then slowly, as water built up behind his eyes, he grimaced as an even more terrifying recollection flashed before his face. Thousands of brown colored insect creatures crawled, stomped, and slithered their way through a large city tearing mercilessly through crowds of terrified humans.

"You know the Zerg…they…they're a ruthless pack of bugs." The man's lips formed a slight smile and he chuckled weakly. "But I'll be damned if they aren't the most unified race I've ever seen. More unified than us anyway…" His emotionless demeanor returned as his eyes gazed out into his memories. "Where should I start? At the beginning?" Feint pictures of the small blue planet Earth hovered in front of his eyes. Then, an enormous blue beam punched a hole through the mass of rock and water causing the planet to implode from the inside out. "No…the beginning's too boring. Just a lot of big ships and nothingness…and besides, I wasn't even born back then."

The echo of a loud car horn bounced off the walls of the small one room apartment. The cylinder lens turned from the broken man to the world outside the apartment. People walked and drove by to and from their daily lives. Birds fluttered and glided along the calm wind. No one noticed the desolate world that lay only a few feet away. Separated only by a small window.

"I'm…I _was_…a soldier, a marine in the G.C.D.F (Galden Colonial Defense Force). We went to war with them…and with the ones who destroyed humanity's birthplace. There were thousands of battles, alliances, betrayals, and victories. But…more than anything else there was death and destruction. This of course comes with any war except, as I'm sure anyone knows…wars sprung up around Koprulu as quickly as the battles we fought in them. There was too much bloodshed…but I didn't see it all. I had my share of battles. Lived through four of the hundreds of wars we've had. There was one point in time that sticks in my mind. I can still recall everything that happened, every word and emotion…even now fourteen years later."

"Hello." A voice flowed in over that of the soldier's as he continued to recall his past life. "This unfortunate man sitting in front of me is Gavin Mathews, former Marine of the G.C.M, a military branch within the G.C.D.F., the Galden Colonial Marine corps. Twelfth Battalion, Tiger Company, Third Platoon: Black Sparrows. Fourteen years ago his unit was assigned to Fort Rambard, a makeshift outpost on the colony planet Genseea that had been recently attacked by a small group of hydralisks that briefly lost their psionic link with a hive overlord. The ferocious beasts towering over ten feet in height crash landed from space into a forest near Hoak, a small town within Genseea. Forty civilians lost their lives to the Zerg that day. After the creatures moved on to Rambard, the Colonial Marines stationed there made short work of the four hydralisks."

Gavin's voice slowly flowed back in over the reporter's. "We had heard of the Zerg yeah. But we had never gone up against them before. No one on our colony had even seen one except for in combat training videos and news reports. Knowing that so few of them were able to ravage an entire town made us feel as if we really accomplished something after we defeated them." His grief stricken stare rose slightly but never centered on the camera lens. "There was one among us who told us how screwed we were. _She_…wasn't one of us. She was a criminal who snuck her way into one of our ships and stowed away to Genseea. Her name was, Anna Martin and she was an ex-marine who deserted her unit after many battles with the Zerg." Gavin took a deep breath and finally lifted his gaze to the camera, staring out at whoever would be watching the recording. "We had managed to hide ourselves away in an unknown and unfavored region of space. There was no sign of Zerg or Protoss activity for light years. I think it was me who drew that convoy of bugs into our small piece of the galaxy. My despair driven destiny that pulled those four hydralisks down onto our planet. And it was just my luck…the Zerg overlord reestablished psionic contact and control over the four marooned minions. It saw what they saw just before they died. And what they saw as we mercilessly emptied our rifle mags into their armored flesh…was our hidden underground mineral deposits."

**Recorded accounts of the events leading to the battle of Genseea. April 5****th**** 3856**

Candal; a large bustling city that never slept near the slopes of the Darnius mountain range, shined brightly during the night. Ever since Earth's destruction at the hands of the Protoss, for a short period of time the human race came together in an effort to better itself and the new modern wonders of the second colonial age were born. However, in the early years of man's first space colonization, the threats of the Zerg and Protoss were nonexistent. The only enemy that presented itself to man, was man. The few thirty-two thousand survivors colonized the first new worlds, and their descendants left these colonies for brighter horizons. Unfortunately once people established these colonies so far away from their brothers and sisters, separatist nations sprung up like wildfire and the colonial civil wars began. These wars gave birth to the technologically advanced war machines used to defend humans from the alien aggressors they face today. The cities however mostly remained the same. New steel, better buildings, faster cars with near limitless fuel supplies, these were the modern luxury advancements. Beyond that most of everything remained the same. Cars still drove across the ground and humanity itself was far from enlightened.

Deep within Candal City, a small bar that was a favorite for on leave soldiers looking to unwind boomed with activity. Several men and women drank and laughed together, spilling intoxicating liquids onto wooden tables and floorboards. Gavin Mathews sat on a stool at the bar counter ignoring the small world contained within the four walls of the building surrounding him. His eyes were locked on the small glass in front of him that contained a simple portion of whiskey. He was so absorbed in absolutely nothing that he didn't notice the red haired man standing behind him.

"Gavin what are you doin'!" The red head shouted.

Gavin's stare and attention remained glued to his drink. "What do you want, Max?"

"Buddy, buddy…why the hell are you drinking so lightly?" He slapped Gavin's back with his right hand. "We're heroes! Where's your big mugs of beer and your crowd of hot women?"

Gavin's distaste with the bar's current atmosphere could be read on his face. "All's we did was blast a few drones with the seventy cal."

"Yeah but how many people on this planet can say that?" Max countered.

"Not the forty people those things killed that's for damn sure." Gavin twisted his glass to the left and right.

Max scoffed at the statement. "They were just a bunch of hicks from a backwater town, who cares?"

"I'd think you would since if they hadn't been slaughtered then no one would care about the mighty Colonial Marines who defeated the four monstrous Zerg aliens." Gavin answered.

"Hmm…" Max thought for a moment. "Good point." Several soft female giggles pulled the glory addicted marine's gaze to one of the tables across the floor a few feet away from the bar counter. He grabbed Gavin's shoulder and shook his friend while giving the women a toothy grin. "Come on man! Can you _not_ be the emotionally wounded soldier for just _one_ night?"

Gavin hesitated a few moments after a short sigh then carelessly downed the shot of whiskey and stood up from his seat. "Ok, Max. Lets go get you a bed mate for the night so I can get back to my meaningless night."

Max patted Gavin's arm after putting his own arm around his shoulders. "Now that's more like it!"

Anna Martin, she walked into the downtown crossroads bar just before walking into the lives of Gavin and Max. Her long black hair extended down to the small of her back and hung out in small bangs over her forehead. Her green eyes scanned the small drinking establishment and immediately locked on to the two drunk Marines with even more drunk women sitting on their laps. Both soldiers ceased their loud laughter as Anna stepped over to their table.

"You." Anna's eyes centered on Gavin. "You were the one who shot the Zerg hydralisks in front of Fort Rambard?"

"Correction." Max spoke before Gavin's thoughts could process. "_We_ were the ones who shot the Zerg hydralisks in front of Fort Rambard."

Anna gave Max an annoyed glare then returned her gaze to Gavin. "You saw them up close?"

Gavin struggled to keep himself and the woman sitting on him balanced in the chair he sat on. "Well yeah I guess…if you can call forty feet up on top of a steel wall up close."

A sigh escaped Anna before she turned, about to leave the bar. "Thanks for nothing."

Gavin attempted to stand but his intoxicated mind blocked the memory of the woman siting on him and he nearly stumbled over her as his body rose. "Hey, wait!"

Anna stopped and turned around. "What?"

Gavin tripped over his feet and came to an abrupt halt in front of Anna. "What? You don't want to know anything else about the battle?"

A smile crept onto Anna's face as she held in a chuckle. "_Battle?_ All's you did was blast a few drones with a seventy cal." Her sarcastic grin slowly formed into a warm smile before she turned and left the bar, leaving the soldiers with their celebration.

**April 7****th**** 3856**

Galen forest, a lush dense nest of trees with over thirty different species of plants and fifty different animal species trying to recover from the small devastation the Zerg had caused. Anna Martin carefully made her way through the steaming crash site searching for something only she could find. It was not fire or heat from the humidity of the forest that caused steam to rise from the rotting ground. It was the live mutating flesh born from the cocoon capsules the Zerg traveled in. Anna steadied herself on a small incline above one of the craters the flesh pulsed in and slowly placed her finger over the grayish-brown substance. A small portion of the flesh oozed out from the crater and wrapped around her finger attempting to merge into her pores. Anna tilted her head to the side and watched as the small exertion of strength the flesh generated was too much for it to handle. The Zerg substance dried out and died along with the rest of the flesh nestled inside the crater.

"That's the first time I've seen the ground die." Max commented.

Anna let out a small gasp as she glanced back and Gavin's sobered form appeared beside her. "What are you doing here?"

"We followed you." Gavin answered while taking a knee. He stared out at the dead flesh with a questioning glare then turned his eyes to Anna. "It's a part of them, isn't it?"

Anna let go of her surprise and her calm demeanor returned. "It's what they use to colonize planets. It takes a long time for Zerg to adapt to different atmospheres and environments since their species can speed up its evolutionary process. This flesh saps up the nutrients they need and disperses it into their eggs and buildings."

"Who are you?" Gavin's eyes remained locked on Anna who kept her stare on the crater.

"I'm…no one." Anna replied.

"No one? Well you're a very educated _no one_." Max folded his arms.

"Hoak was a mining town wasn't it?" Anna changed the subject.

"Yeah, those rednecks cropped up some minerals for us. So what?" Max added.

Gavin let his gaze drift back to the crater as disturbing assumptions began to slowly creep into his mind. "I think I know where she's going with this, Max."

"You have to take me back with you. Right now." Anna demanded.

"Take you back where?" Max asked.

"To Rambard." Anna's answer was cold and silent.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Max stepped over to the slender woman dressed in black. "What the hell are you talking about? We're not taking you back to the base. Even If I wasn't still on leave I wouldn't take you there."

Anna's emotionless eyes rested on Gavin. The marine stared into the woman's black pupils. There was no hint of anything as to her intentions. He only saw the same thing he saw in his own eyes every time he looked into a mirror. Nothing.

"We can be there by the end of the day if we take my car." Gavin stood to his feet.

An explosion of shock and confusion spread out across Max's face. "What? What the hell? Gavin what are you doing!"

"Let's go, Max." Gavin started towards Hoak.

XXXX

"We made it back to Rambard a bit earlier than I had guessed." Gavin gazed at the dirt floor of the apartment. A deep long sigh escaped him. "That's when everything went to hell."

XXXX

"Gavin? What are you doing back so soon? Your leave isn't up for another month." One of the commanding officers of Rambard stared up at Gavin, Max, and Anna. "And who is that?"

"Her?" Max glanced at Anna. "She's _no one_." He gave the mysterious woman a sarcastic glare.

Gavin let out an annoyed sigh. "We're back, Major, because this woman has given us some interesting information about the Zerg and the hydralisks that attacked Hoak."

"Really?" The Major glanced over Anna before rising from his desk. "Well she can talk to me later. In reality it's good you two are here. I was just about to send out a recall order to all the Sparrows."

"What? Why?" Max wondered.

The metal floor began to tremble beneath the soldiers' feet. The three men and woman all stepped outside the Major's office. They followed several other marines to one of the many balconies outside the fort and four massive battlecruisers rocketing over the planet came into their line of sight. The battlecruisers, escorted by hundreds of Viking fighters began a slow decent onto Rambard's landing strips.

Max gave Gavin a worried glance as he pointlessly tried to count the landing fighters. "For some reason, I don't know why, but it feels like this is all your fault."

"My fault? How is all this my fault?" Gavin protested.

"You and your depressing lifestyle." Max accused.

Gavin let out another annoyed sigh before turning to Anna. "Now what?"

Anna gazed out at the colonial force and for the first time let her worried emotions be read on her face. Her latent feminine nature glistened behind the water building up in her eyes as her gaze rose to Gavin's. "Well…" A small giggle escaped her. "It looks like I've got a lot of explaining to do."

Commodore Renald Ramden, commander of the Red Hawk battlecruiser group made his way through Ft. Rambard with his three commanding officers, Captains Jack Burner, Richard Gumm, and Benson Porter. The rest of the Commodore's entourage consisted of his full staff and a few members of his captains' staff. They made their way to, Major Bernard Tam, commander of Ft Rambard, and the G.C.M. battalion stationed there.

"Major Tam." Renald brought his stride to a halt in front of the major's desk.

"Ah, Commodore. What brings you here?" Bernard realized his question was pointless but somehow managed to hold on to a small sliver of hope that the recent attack hadn't already reached B.C.D.F. (The Benevolent Colonial Defense Federation)* command.

"You know why we're here, Major." Renald shot back coolly.

_Damn._ Bernard thought. "Of course…well as you can see we're handling things just fine here."

"Yes…" Renald nodded with his hand under his chin. "You've done a fine job, Major."

"So I ask again, why…" Bernard began.

The Commodore raised his hand silencing the Major. "We're here because we need to be. Your operation here though small has managed to pull in a lot of commerce over the years. You've stayed under the federation radar for quite a while by making sure that ore gets where it's supposed to go."

Bernard leaned back in his seat as his lips formed a smug grin. "But now the shipments have been halted and that was just the little nudge you were waiting for to come roaring down here and take over."

Renald chuckled and shrugged off the accusation. "No, no, no, Major you've got it all wrong." He pulled out the chair in front of Bernard's desk and took a seat, letting his long blue personally tailored overcoat flutter around the maple wood furniture. "What would I want with a little mining operation? No, I didn't come here to steal your money pot."

"Then what do you want?" Bernard wondered.

Anna Martin stood beside Gavin Mathews and Max Derandul taking in the conversation between the two commanders. "Me…" She stared down at the floor avoiding Gavin and Max's questioning gazes. "He came for me."

Renald smiled at the defeated woman standing next to the two marines who both turned and stared at her. "Anna Martin." His hand slapped down a moderately packed file with an old military photo of Anna Martin stapled to the front page.

Bernard glanced over the contents of the file then set it back down on his desk, leaning back in his seat. "Sergeants Mathews and Derandul, please step outside."

Gavin took another glance at Anna then reluctantly followed his friend outside of Major Bernard Tam's office. Normally he would have put up some kind of fight to find out what was going on but he knew that when Major Tam addressed him by his rank instead of his name that arguing would only threaten his next paycheck.

"So what the hell do you think is going on?" Max asked, leaning against the wall outside of Bernard's office.

"How should I know?" Gavin shot back.

The two waited outside for over three hours, their curiosity not allowing them to leave the hallway. Just when their frustration began to reach its breaking point, Commodore Ramden stepped through the sliding door of Bernard's office followed by his battlecruiser commanders and staff. Shock flashed across Gavin's eyes as he saw Anna slowly following the B.C.D.F with binder restraints fastened around her wrists. Her empty stare slowly rose from the floor to Gavin's confused and questioning gaze.

_We don__'__t have much time._ Anna's voice echoed inside Gavin's mind. "What…?" Gavin turned to Anna with even more confusion spreading around his face.

Anna's stare remained cold and unreadable as she gazed out at Gavin. _Find me…_ Her stare hovered over Max for a few seconds then returned to the floor and the large assortment of battlecruiser commanders and staff disappeared around the hallway corner.

"So…" Max glanced up at Gavin while leaning against the wall outside of Bernard's office with his arms folded. "What now?"

Gavin turned to Max and hesitated before speaking. "Did…did she?"

"Talk to me without actually talking? Yeah she did." Max replied.

"What did she say to you?" Gavin wondered.

"Follow him." Max said steadily.

"Come on." Gavin started down the hall.

"Where are we going?" Max kicked himself off the wall and started after Gavin.

Gavin kept his gaze in front of him and his eyes began to fill with a sense of purpose and determination. "We're going to go find her."

XXXX

Anna kept her eyes glued to the floor as the Commodore flipped loudly through each page of her file. Renald's eyes briefly scanned each page of the large document. "So did you think you would never see us again, Anna?"

"You didn't come here because of the Zerg attack…four hydralisks couldn't possibly draw out the best of the B.C.D.F." Anna's eyes finally centered on Renald.

A confident smirk covered Renald's face as his eyes met Anna's eyes. "We always knew you were here. I knew what you were about to do back on Crynosis and I knew where you were going when you deserted the unit."

Anna couldn't keep her confusion from being read on her face. "Then…why?"

Renald sighed and removed his gaze from Anna for a handful of seconds then stared into her eyes once more. "Because I knew what the high command was planning to do before you did." He rose from his seat inside the office he confiscated for his interrogation and faced the brown wooden door entrance. "You're not the only potential the federation missed or overlooked…" He faced the confused woman. "But you are the first overlooked ghost potential that without the proper training and experimentation…has still managed to produce a psionic brainwave output of over three thousand.*"

"I'm not going back, Renald. I won't let them turn me into some guinea pig or tool for some sad attempt at controlling the Zerg." Anna snapped.

"I wish I could agree with you…I didn't want this to happen. That's why I let you go and helped cover your tracks." Renald took a few steps towards Anna. "But I can't stop what's coming."

XXXX

"Excuse me, Mr. Mathews but…how do you know what went on between Anna Martin and Commodore Renald Ramden?" The reporter asked.

Gavin chuckled at the question. "Because she told me."

XXXX

"Excuse me, Mr. Mathews but...just how the fuck do you expect us to get to that psycho chick when she has the federation's finest for guards!" Max whispered as he followed Gavin towards the Ft. Rambard holding cells.

"Hey. We're both Sergeants. We can do whatever the hell we want." Gavin assured his nervous friend. He hesitated as the steel double doors leading to the holding cell section of the base came into view. "As long as the federation guards aren't standing right in front of her cell."

Unfortunately for the two marines all of the available guards the federation could spare were on steady patrol through the holding cell area and four were keeping close watch over Anna Martin. A large maze of assorted cells decorated each corner of every hallway, Ft Rambard's prison had never suffered an escaped prisoner in its fifty years of service. Federation soldiers marched an intimidating stride in pairs of twos through the long dark and dismal halls of the prison.

"Shit…" Gavin cursed under his breath.

"Now what?" Max asked.

"Well…it's not like we have to sneak around through our own prison." Gavin pointed out.

"Yeah it's obvious that's not the problem. But how are we gonna get into Anna's cell?" Max wondered.

"We'll figure that out when we get there." Gavin stepped forward through the double doors.

XXXX

"Look, step out of your world of duty and orders for a moment and listen to me. We don't have much time left!" Anna shouted at the guards standing in front of her cell.

"I don't take orders from deserters." One of the guards said coldly.

"We're all gonna die if you don't change that noble trait of yours!" Anna snapped.

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Another one of the guards asked.

"The Zerg are on their way here right now! They could be here any day now!" Anna warned.

The guards laughed loudly. "Yeah right. That isn't even original." One of them teased.

"What now? You expect us to go running to our commander screaming, the Zerg are coming the Zerg are coming! So you can put whatever pathetic escape plan you have into motion? Forget it." Another guard joked.

"Besides, if there was any truth to your bullshit you would have told, Commodore Ramden." The fourth guard concluded.

"I did tell him and he just brushed it off as nothing…" Anna whispered.

"And that's exactly what we're gonna do. So sit tight and shut up!" The first guard ordered.

"Hey now that's no way to talk to a lady." Max's smooth voice flowed into the ending argument. "Even if she is a weirdo…"

Anna's eyes brightened at the sound of Max's voice. "I never thought I'd be glad to see you."

"Don't worry about it sweetheart, all the ladies are glad to see me." Max responded coolly.

"Who the hell are you guys?" One of the guards asked.

Gavin stepped in front of the center of the cell and faced the guards while trying to put his N.C.O. (Non Commissioned Officer) training to good use. He straightened himself up and stood with a military pose that demanded respect. "Sergeants Gavin Mathews and Max Derandul."

The guards flinched then immediately stood at parade rest holding their standard issue AGR 14 8mm gauss assault rifles* against their shoulders with their right hands and putting their left hands behind their backs. "Sergeants." They all said in unison.

Gavin used all of the military bearing he had left to stop a relieved smirk from forming on his face. _This just might be easier than I originally thought._ "Stand aside privates, we have business with the prisoner."

One of the guards nervously blocked Gavin's path. "S-sorry sergeant…my apologies but we have standing orders from the commodore not to allow anyone inside this cell."

"Do you now?" Max said casually. "Well if I recall correctly all privates have standing orders to obey the lawful orders of their superior officers." He glanced at Gavin with a cocky grin. "Two sergeants wanting to see a prisoner they brought in seems pretty lawful to me. How bout you, sergeant?"

Gavin returned his friend's glance then gave the four guards a cold glare. "Pop smoke and get the fuck out of our way!"

The terrified soldiers jumped then quickly moved out of the way of Gavin and Max. Anna smiled as the cell bars slid to the right and Gavin stepped in.

"Well we found you. Now how pray tell, do you expect us to get you out of here?" Gavin's question was answered by a loud ground shaking explosion that erupted in some far section of Ft. Rambard.

Terror erupted onto Anna's face and her fear filled eyes turned to Gavin's eyes. "We're too late…they're here!"

Gavin didn't think of himself as a highly intelligent man. His education ended when he got his G.E.D. after dropping out of the tenth grade. Despite this it wasn't hard for him to figure out what the recent events had lead up to. He knew that the Zerg had landed on Geensea and that they were attacking Rambard and probably Hoak for their mineral deposits. He knew that all hell was about to break loose and that he should be reporting to his post and helping organize the few Tiger Company soldiers still at the base. However for some reason his entire life as a soldier suddenly seemed more meaningless than he had thought it was. His rank meant nothing to him, his duty meant nothing to him, only his friends mattered. Gavin had several opportunities to leave the military though he never took any of them. He was always one of the first to sign the re-enlistment papers when they were passed out. However now he didn't see a simple way out of the marines that lead to a life of nightly drunken hangovers. Now he saw a way into a new life with more meaning than defending a government that instead of wanting to defeat their most devastating enemy, would rather destroy countless lives in a vain effort to control it. Right then, at that moment, Gavin Mathews felt as if he would do anything to help Anna Martin, a woman he had only met a few days ago and knew nothing of. Somehow he knew that helping her would help change things for the better.

_If we don__'__t get killed in the process._ Gavin thought to himself before making the most important decision of his life. His right hand unsnapped the strap holding his slugthrower in its holster and then wrapped his hand around the weapon, pulling it free of its restraint. He turned and caught a glimpse of Max's shocked gaze before aiming the handgun at the four guards, who were shouting orders for the two sergeants to leave the cell.

"Gavin! What the _fuck_ are you doing!" Max shouted.

"I don't know Max…but it feels right." Gavin stepped forward, glaring at the guards. "Step back!"

Max had mixed feelings about what was taking place. On one hand he had his job, his duty, and more than likely his life at stake. On the other hand he had the life and trust of his best friend at stake. Not to mention his honor, should he choose to follow the path that seemed the most sensible to him. "Oh man…"

A second slugthrower, aimed at the four bewildered guards, hovered forward past Gavin's head and Max's form appeared beside him. "You heard the man…" His left hand pulled back the chamber of the weapon then released it, sliding a spike bullet into the barrel. "Step the fuck back!"

Gavin glanced at his friend. "You don't have to do this, Max. You can still…"

Max waved away his friend's concerns. "Shut up man. If you didn't want to get me into trouble then you shouldn't have gottin' into trouble yourself." He smirked as Gavin smiled at his comment. "And besides…" He glanced at Anna. "She told me to follow you right? When a pretty lady tells me to do something I usually listen." He gave Anna another wryly grin. "And I usually get a nice _reward_ afterward."

Anna Martin didn't think of herself as the girlish feminine type. She hadn't worn a dress since her mother forced her to for her high school senior prom. She never made stuffy excuses like the need to "freshen up" when going to the bathroom. And she never, _ever_ giggled uncontrollably at lame male attempts at getting in her pants.

"I…" However as she felt the tingling sensation of blood and embarrassment in her cheeks she conceded that somehow this marine she knew nothing of broke down her mental barrier. She giggled for a moment then covered her mouth with her right hand and gave the cocky soldier an annoyed glare before uncovering her mouth. "Let's just get out of here!"

...

***The Benevolent Colonial Defense Federation:** With each new habitable planet discovered and colonized, new military organizations were formed. Colonists from the newly found planet Crynosis spread through uncharted territories within the Koprulu Sector. Galden was the first planet the Crynosis colonists discovered and after two generations, established their own military traditions. However, Galden and the many other newly discovered worlds within the Crynosis system were still under the authority of the Crynosis government. In response to the many different military factions that sprung up throughout the system, the Crynosian government established The Benevolent Colonial Defense Federation. Each military force within the Crynosian system is a member of the federation, which receives orders directly from the elected council on Crynosis. Commodore Renald Ramden is a part of the military established on Crynosis before the federation's conception. The Crynosis military is often the only part of the federation referred to as the B.C.D.F. as the other branches prefer their own personal planetary designations.

***psionic brainwave output of over three thousand:** I am a big fan of power levels and while I do not know if there is an official measurement for psionic abilities in the Starcraft universe (feel free to let me know) I decided to throw one in here.

***standard issue AGR 14 8mm gauss assault rifles:** Although the AGR 14 is a standard issue ghost weapon in the Starcraft universe by the time Starcraft: Ghost starts, I figured that after a thousand years the entire military would hijack the effective weapon. I am still going to use the impaler as the standard CMC armor weapon.


	2. History Lesson

**Chapter Two: History Lesson**

**Postwar Cease Fire Documentary Report: June 12th, 3871  
**

_Thirteen-hundred years ago...our ancestors intervened in one of the largest conflicts mankind has ever been a part of, effectively plunging our past civilization into the conflict. The U.E.D.__(United Earth Directorate), our ancestors sought to take control of and dominate all sentient life that inhabited the Koprulu sector. Including our distant cousins that left earth two-hundred years prior to the U.E.D. arrival. What followed was a disastrous defeat at the hands of the three powers that claimed the sector for their own._

_After the defeat of Earth's greatest fleet and its commanders, the Zerg, led by the infested ghost, Sarah Kerrigan, tore through the dwindling remnants of the Protoss and small human factions that still inhabited the sector. With her enemies devastated to near extinction, Kerrigan set her sights on our former homeworld._

_Earth had little warning of its coming destruction, save a final letter from, Admiral Dugalle, written to his wife before all contact with his fleet was lost. However, Kerrigan didn't consider how...tenacious life could be. Many of the humans and Protoss of Koprulu fled to the outer rims of the sector before the zerg swarms overtook the core worlds. United under the banner of survival, the largest Protoss/Terran alliance ever to be built within the sector made its way towards Earth in pursuit of the Zerg attack force, which consisted of half the Zerg Swarm and was led by the Queen of Blades herself._

_What happened when the two massive forces reached the small blue planet are only spoken of in folklore as no images or documents of the battle were ever recorded save one shred of information. When it was clear that the Earth could not be saved the two forces that pursued the Zerg and the U.E.D. decided that the preservation of the human race took priority over the salvation of its homeworld. During the mass evacuation and retreat, the Protoss fired their most powerful purification beam straight into the center of the Earth, igniting the planet from within. The distraction was enough to catch the swarm off guard and allow the humans and Protoss a clear escape route. Once our ancestors reached the Koprulu sector, the alliances between the Protoss and human factions dissolved over the years._

_Devastated and at a loss with hardly any purpose except survival, our ancestors, wanting to stay out of the affairs of the dominant factions within the sector set out on a second human pilgrimage through space and soon discovered Crynosis, a large habitable Earth-like planet. The fifth away from the massive life sustaining star that the leaders of the pilgrim fleet christened, __**Los**__*. Thus, the U.E.D. was no more and as several colonists spread out to even farther reaches of the sector, the Benevolent Colonial Defense Federation was born on Crynosis within the Los System. Three systems fell under the control of the B.C.D.F. with over twelve colony planets and moons._

_The expansion of our forces was allowed through the small war that erupted throughout the core worlds of Koprulu. Shortly after the Protoss/Terran alliance returned to the sector, they were attacked by the remaining half of Kerrigan's swarm, led by her own personally created Cerebrate general, Germ. The war seemed to have no end, the death toll reaching the billions after only a few years. However, for the Zerg, a quick death is an inevitability, not something to fear. The mass produced insectoid creatures ravaged the bipedal Terrans and Protoss until suddenly...the fighting stopped. For five years after the ten year war there was an unexplained cease fire initiated by the Zerg that for some unknown reason, stopped attacking. Some speculate that this was due to the fact that Germ lost his psionic link with Kerrigan as she was killed on Earth during its destruction. The fact that the Zerg Cerebrate created many more of its kind in order to fuse with them and mutate into a newly formed Overmind made Kerrigan's death seem all the more likely. However, many believe that Germ, being so far away from his master for so long was simply unable to maintain the connection, and once he was free, decided to take control of the swarm on his own. Others believe Kerrigan decided to spread her swarm to the farther reaches of space beyond the Milky Way galaxy and left Germ with the charge of exterminating the remaining sentient life in Koprulu._

_Whatever the reason...for a little over twelve-hundred years, our ancestors were mostly ignored even after the fighting continued amongst the warring factions. Although many military operations were **unofficially**__ carried out by our government in vague assistance of those that saved us from total annihilation over the last millennium, it wasn't until recently that the fighting finally broke out amongst our star systems. Now...as many have always known would happen through ancestral teaching, folklore, and the core world news signals some of our planets receive, the struggle for dominance within the Koprulu sector had come to our doorstep in the year 3799. This was our first Great War. Many smaller scale wars would follow until the second Great War, which began in the year 3856.  
_

_My job carried me through many battles and skirmishes throughout GW2. However, no one really knows how this conflict began. Some blame the Protoss, believing their ruthless methods for handling Zerg infestations were too devoid of compassion for human life. Others believe that one of the three dominant factions to take control of the human populace on the core worlds are at fault. I myself witnessed several strange occurrences that made me question my belief in our government. Recently, several classified military documents concerning the war were released by an unknown source. I quickly got a hold of them. In reading them I discovered a path to a hidden truth concerning the origins of the war. Every report and record concerning different military forces from Galden to Yotua all have one thing in common. The battlefield reconnaissance and eye witness accounts from each force all have records of an unidentified military faction that tore through the Koprulu Sector for a short period of time...then vanished. Not much is mentioned about the faction except one recurring reference to one man. A mercenary referred to only as, __**Dragon Lord**__._

_I quit my job and decided to follow the war through this mercenary and those that knew him. I thought maybe this man could lead me to the hidden truth behind the war. The first reported account of Dragon Lord's existence was referenced by the Black Sparrows. The platoon was disbanded one year after the war began and most of its members lost their lives during The Battle of Gensea. This news discouraged me as I was certain that as with every story, the beginning is the best place to start. There were only a handful of accounts of Dragon Lord fighting alongside any military units within our government. I needed to find someone who was there when it all started. Someone who was there when Dragon Lord first appeared onto our battlefields._

_Gavin Mathews...was one such person._

The former G.C.D.F. marine glanced up at the camera with an expression of indifference covering his face ready to relive the horror that was The Battle of Gensea. "It was a dark and dismal day..."

***Los: The U.E.D. along with the civilian pilgrims from the destroyed planet Earth named the Crynosis star, Los in remembrance of Sol. Los is Sol spelled backwards and many pilgrims felt the name was fitting as, Los is "lost" without the T.**


	3. Invasion

**Author's Note: Well here it is...chapter three! Still not one review though...;(. I mean it isn't hard people...just hit the review button and type down your thoughts. Well anyway a little more insight into this story. If no one has guessed by now everyone will know after reading this chapter that I am taking a different approach to starcraft with this story. Not just with the whole 1300 years thing but with the way the starcraft world is presented. If this was a movie it would be one of those seemingly billion dollar budget (but really just million dollar budget) movies that have baddass effects but focus more on the characters than the effects with those smart camera angles, fast zoom in close ups, and the shaded lighting (yes I am talking about the newer version of Battlestar Galactica o_o). I know that is kind of the opposite of what starcraft is about (starcraft 1 anyway, haven't played 2 yet) but give it a chance (and an honest review) and maybe you'll like the different approach. Don't worry, the action is still going to be there when it needs to be but it won't be there in every second and every sentence unless it (like it will in chapter four) needs to be**. **For now I hope everyone enjoys the boxed in tension building approach I took with this chapter and that if you do (or don't) enjoy it...give me a review and tell me why! Thank you ;_;**

**Chapter Three: Invasion**

**Interview 05: Tobias Johnson**

"Dark and dismal...that's how the day was." Calm and resolved, the young man's voice did little to illustrate the horror his memory flashed in front of his eyes.

Lounging comfortably atop a lavish cushioned chair surrounded by what many would consider the finer things in life. Expensive furniture, plush carpets, and hi-tech entertainment devices. The cool breeze emanating from the air conditioning seemed to swirl into being above the chilled wine Tobias held lightly in his right hand.

"Did'ya ever notice that though? Every weekday is kind of like that. Dismal and dark. Always cloudy even though it isn't going to rain. It's like god is saying _don't bother getting up today just go ahead and stay inside you don't have to work and your youngins don't need bother with gettin' any schoolin' today._" Tobias lowered his head and his toothy grin shrank to a reserved smile. "I was always beggin' my ma and pa not to force me outta' bed. I would give em' hell every mornin'." It was almost unnoticeable save for the brief reflection off of the camera, a small sparkle behind his left eye. "But every weekend I was up and rollin' fer they even knew what day it was I'll tell you what. The sun was always shinnin' on the weekends. Cept fer when it actually was gonna rain."

Despite the pampered lifestyle screaming out around him; anyone who would later view Tobias in the video presentation would realize that wealth was not something he was born into. From the faded casual clothes he wore, the way he talked, to the way he carried himself not letting his impressive muscular physique decline in the slightest.

Tobias leaned back and his gaze glanced over the chandelier hanging from the ceiling of his home for a brief nostalgic moment. "Boy...I tell ya...I still member my last weekend back home...before the war started. It was bright as can be I'll tell you what!" Tobias slapped his knee in deep bellowing laughter. The whole gesture doing little to remove the small sparkle still glistening behind his eye. "Few days after that those Zerg bugs came crashin' down _again_. Almost right smack dab in the same damn ol' spot they landed in before! This time though there weren't just four o' dem lil' critters. There were thousands!"

Unconsciously, after completing all of the over the top backwater good old boy gestures he could think of to illustrate his tale, after setting down the glass of wine beside the coaster set out for him by one of his butlers, Tobias's hand came to a twitching halt over the custom slugthrower strapped to his right thigh.

"Tore through everyone and every thing they could get their claws and teeth on..." The glistening sparkle finally vanished as it almost unnoticeably fell from Tobias's eye onto the arm of his chair. "Tore right through...everyone."

**The Invasion of ****Genseea**** April 8, 3856**

**7:00 A.M.**

Hoak. The small backwater mining town on the small backwater mining planet, Genseea. No matter how brightly the planet's orange sun decided to shine, the weekday clouds refused to let its light beam down any encouraging warmth or comfort to the town citizens. Dark and dismal clouds circling what should be a bright blue sky was the age old indicator that today was a workday for Benjamen Johnson and another boring school day for his three children; Rebbecca, Tobias, and Benjamen Jr.

Two of the youngsters, to their credit, accepted their dreadfully drowsy awakening with little resistance. One however, as always, refused to be roused from his comforting sheets and pillows without the stern discipline demanding tactics only a father can give to his son.

As Tobias slowly began drifting back off to sleep after ignoring his mother's initial call and the sweet smell of fresh pancakes, his senses were too disoriented to register the object flying towards him through the air. The object, which turned out to be one of Tobias's sneakers, collided with the side of his sheet covered head and his father's voice boomed over his ear drums before the pain could register.

"Tobias! Get the hell outta that bed boy and get dressed!" Benjamen shouted with an annoyed glare covering his face. "Boy I tell ya you always get one lazy one! Mah daddy told me you always get one!" His hand gripped the brass doorknob and one last command escaped him before he shut the door. "Nah get up! You got some learnin' to do down at the school!"

"Ow!" Tobias managed before his door shut.

Roughly ten minutes later Tobias joined his family, who had already began eating at the table. As Tobias sat down to the right of his father he made an overtly obvious effort to display the annoyance he felt towards being attacked with one of his own shoes by rubbing the back of his head. "God dang it papa. Why you always gotta resort to usin' violence to solve problems."

"Because a good whack to the head will solve more problems than standin' around talkin' all day." Benjamen shot back.

"Mah teacher says violence duhn't solve anythin'." Tobias frowned, still rubbing his head, which had only really stung for about ten seconds after his shoe hit. His father hadn't thrown the sneaker that hard.

"Tell that to that bully that been pickin' on ya for a month before yo daddy taught you how to deal with boys like that." Benjamen said with pride, more so for how well Tobias fought the bully that was twice his size and three years his senior.

"Oh, Ben, don't encourage him. I'm still apologizing to that young boy's mother for how badly Toby beat him." Tobias's mother added.

"Yeah daddy. I mean I di'nt have much choice but to beat him once I knew how. Before I used to talk mah way outta trouble but once I was backed into the corner with the know how on how to get out everything was different." Tobias mopped.

Benjamen scoffed at the comments. "Aw shut up boy! The only reason you so bent outta shape is cuz that lil' girl you like was scared stiff after she saw how a _real man_ is supposed to handle bullies." Benjamen emphasized his point by wrapping his arms around Tobias's head and holding him in a playful headlock. "Abigale, you keep that girly _in touch with your feelins'_ stuff outta the boy's head!" He said smiling up at his wife.

"Daddy! Da...daddy lemme go!" Tobias screamed in protest.

"Not till you say it! Say uncle!" Benjamen clenched his left hand into a fist and rubbed his knuckles along his sons head.

"Hey since Tobias ain't gonna finish his breakfast before we go to school can I have it?" Benjamen Jr. asked with a sly smirk.

"No!" Tobias shouted.

"I suppose. Shouldn't let it go to waste." Abigale sighed. "Oh well. My mom said my life would be one big display after the next if I married a redneck."

"_Mama!_" Tobias screamed in protest.

"That's what you get for trying to stay in bed. This whole chain of events could have been avoided if you just..." Rebbecca wasted no time in getting her chastising licks in on her little brother.

"Shut up, Becky!" Tobias muffled into his father's arm while pointlessly trying to free himself.

A slight frown overtook Rebbecca's face as she watched Benjamen Jr. empty the contents of Tobias's plate onto his own. "Rebbecca. I told you it's _Re-bbe-cca._" Her arms folded across her chest. "_Becky_ is a short and lazy way of saying my name. Just like the whole redneck language is short and lazy."

Tobias gasped for air after removing his nose from his father's armpit then glared at his sister while holding his father's arm back with both hands. "Well if the short and lazy skirt fits!" A muffled grunt followed his sentence as his face buried into his father's chest.

Rebbecca's eyes widened at the comment and her hand shot forward, wrapping around one of the many butter knives scattered around the table. No words escaped the until now seemingly mature young teenage woman, only a menacing glare beamed from her face as the knife slowly rose from the table, its tip centered on Tobias's head.

Another sigh escaped Abigale as she began gathering the empty plates from the table. "I don't know how mom ever did it. Living such a boring family life for all those years." _Thank god I found you, Ben._ A small smile peaked out onto her face while she watched as her at that moment, twelve year old husband released her eight year old son, who laughed along with his father.

XXXX

"Why the hell do they do it?" Tobias looked past the camera at the former reporter seated behind it. "I mean sure it's their nature an all. I get that. But why the hell would god, nature, whatever you like to believe, create somethin' so vicious? So thirsty fer the end of all life? Once they gather up everyone into their swarm there won't be any individual thought left. All life will be gone. There won't be a, Joe or Bob or Lucy. They'll just be a Zerg one, two, and three." Tobias lowered his gaze to the floor and in a fit of rage smacked the glass of wine across the room. "Benson! Beer!"

A tall distinguished man with dark gray hair wearing a black unimaginably clean butler uniform appeared on camera beside Tobias with a tray held out with his right hand and his left hand positioned behind his back. "Yes sir."

"Thanks ol' boy." Tobias grinned.

"Very good sir." Benson vanished from sight.

"Now." The snap hiss from the built in can opener atop the beer cracked into the air followed by a series of large gulps from Tobias's throat. "Where was I? Oh yeah! My last day ah school!" Tobias bellowed. "That's right man I ain't had no schoolin' since that day. Mah daddy would be proud." Tobias held up the view of his home with his arms before taking another swig of his beer. "All this money and not a day past the third grade!" Tobias's loud laughter almost seemed to send tremors through the camera lens.

XXXX

**7:45 A.M.**

The ride to school was a rare family event inside Benjamen's old faithful pickup. Usually it would be either Benjamen or Abigale that drove their three children to school in the morning. Today, however, was different. Due to the recent Zerg attack the mine had been opening later for the past few days as workers and families were given time to grieve and readjust. Abigale, a nurse at the local clinic, was given a special paid vacation due to her exceptional performance in the aftermath of the attack. At the protest of her fellow nurses and every doctor present, Abigale stole an ambulance and raced off towards the mines. With the help of her husband's S.C.V. she was able to load four miners, who were the only men fortunate enough to only be wounded by the Hydralisks into the vehicle.

"Junior!" Benjamen glanced back at his son.

"Yeah dad?" Junior looked up.

"I want you to look after your brother today." Benjamen said.

"What?" Junior and Tobias both asked.

"That bully might come lookin' fer revenge. I don't want him catchin' ol', Toby here off guard." Benjamen explained.

"What happened to the whole _real man_ fighting thing?" Junior frowned.

Benjamen grinned. "That thar is fer first contact negotiations. A Johnson only fights fair once to let everyone know he can. After that the ol' if you mess with the lil' cub in the bunch the big daddy is gonna come'ah lookin' for some bones teh grind rule takes effect!" Benjamen emphasized his point by waving his clenched fist.

"I'm not his daddy!" Junior protested while Tobias only hid his face in his hands.

"Y'all know what I mean!" Benjamen returned his attention to the forest surrounded road.

"Ben..." Curiosity crept onto Abigale's face. "What's that?"

"What?" Benjamen glanced at his wife.

"That." Abigale pointed towards the sky.

Benjamen glanced up briefly taking his eyes off of the dirt road. Junior and Rebbecca both leaned forward placing their hands on the front seats of the truck and gazed up at the sky.

**7:46 A.M.**

Tobias frowned as he tried to see what had caught his families' attention. One of the many disadvantages of being so young was your height was something to be desired. Tobias placed his hands on his siblings' shoulders attempting, yet failing to move them out of the way.

"Hey. What'r y'all lookin' at? Lemme see!" Tobias demanded.

Junior glanced down at his younger brother frowning then after planting his right hand firmly on Tobias's face, shoved him back. "Get off me, squirt."

"Hey!" Tobias growled. The only thing his small eyes could catch a glimpse of before his brother pushed him was the time on the old green clock radio built into his father's truck.

**7:47 A.M.**

"Ben!" An unnerving fear flowed along Abigale's shriek. "Look out!"

"What in tarnation!" Benjamen's eyes widened. "Hold on!"

The red pickup swerved off the trail barely avoiding an impact with several of the trees that made up Galen Forest. A large white stone that had nestled firmly into the soil many hundreds of years before humans colonized its planet sat silently in the path of the red truck barreling towards it. The impact from the black wheel of the vehicle did little to harm or even move the boulder. The truck however, with a loud bang, slammed off and was launched to the left where a small deep ditch caught hold of the wheel and held it in place.

Benjamen exhaled the involuntary deep breath the impact gasped into his lungs and slowly lifted his head from the horn on the center of his steering wheel. With a painful turn of his head that allowed him a quick scan of his family registered their well-being in his mind. Seconds later his eyes widened as the object he drove off road to avoid filled his vision.

Tobias slowly lifted his head from his knees and gazed up painfully at his father, who was staring wide-eyed at something behind the truck. "Dad..?"

"Get _down_!" Benjamen screamed at the top of his lungs with a fear Tobias had never before heard from his father.

Three seconds later a violent rumbling shook what seemed to be the entire planet or at least the entire forest. Moments later a deafening crash and even more violent rumble exploded into the young boy's ears causing him to cover them in a vein attempt at blocking out the noise. Rocks, fallen branches, and a thick brown dust crashed through the back windshield of the truck engulfing the five humans inside. An unbearably putrid stench intertwined with the dust seeped into Tobias's nostrils nearly bringing up the breakfast he didn't eat that morning.

Tobias's father's truck was quickly becoming the worst and most hated place he had ever been in and escape began to dominate his mind. However, the small attempt Tobias made for the door handle was abruptly halted by his older brother, who held him down, ordering him to remain still. Tobias glanced up at his father who was too preoccupied with trying to restart his truck that had shut off after the impact to notice his youngest son shouting questions, begging for reassurance that everything would be ok. Tobias's gaze turned to his mother who was glancing back at the source of the explosion and at her husband, whom she was frantically urging to hurry up with the restarting of the truck. A quick glance to the right brought Tobias's sister into view, who was gazing out of the destroyed back window of the truck, her hands tightly gripping and her face half hidden behind the velvet seat. Suddenly her already unstable composure degenerated into an uncontrolled fit of terror as she began slamming her right hand against the backseat shouting, begging her father to hurry up and start the truck. Tobias's fear was about to reach its breaking point when finally, after a soothing plea to the truck from his father brought the vehicle back to life.

"Come on ol' girl...please...this is your family too." Benjamen turned the key and let out a large sigh of relief after feeling the truck come back to life.

Tobias braced himself as his father literally put the pedal to the metal and used all of the raw power his truck possessed to free it from the ditch and within seconds had the vehicle pointed back towards civilization. Hope began to flutter inside the young boy's chest. A hope that for the most part was mixed with a deep confusion. What could have caused everything that had transpired within the last few minutes? What had made the world shake? What had caused his family to become so terrified? More importantly, what was it his sister, mother, and brother were all gazing back at in fear through the destroyed back window of his dad's pickup truck?

What happened next would haunt Tobias for the rest of his life. The answer to the small boy's questions came with the unnerving sound of a large sharp alien object slicing its way into the back carriage of his father's pickup truck. Almost instinctively, after taking in the sight of the spike impaling the backseat of the truck, Tobias turned his head from the scene then covered his ears and closed his eyes. What he had seen was...what did he see? His eyes had taken in the full sight of the spike and the damage it had caused but there was something else that had happened. However, for some reason that something else wouldn't register in his mind. It was one of those strange human moments when something you should know somehow eluded your mind completely for whatever reason. What brought Tobias's mind back into focus was his sister's loud mortified shriek that forced his eyes open. Tobias had never seen the expression Rebbecca was wearing and knew that it was one she should not have. However, there it was and as he turned his head to the source of the expression, his mind almost went completely blank.

Benjamen Jr. gurgled then coughed up a mouthful of blood. The reddish liquid sprayed from the hole in his chest born from the large alien spike covered in a greenish slime and decorated the back of the front seats of the truck painting them a bright crimson. Tobias couldn't understand what was happening. His brother was still moving but in an awkward way. His body twitched and convulsed against the backseat, unable to remove itself from the velvet fabric due to the spike buried deep within its chest.

"Benjamen?" Abigale's pleading scream was distorted with pain. "_Benjamen_!"

"Ma...ma..." Benjamen Junior's last word was spoken in fear and confusion. "Mom...?" His agony filled eyes remained open as his head slumped forward.

"Junior!" Tears were streaming down Benjamen's eyes before he could speak. "_Junior_!"

Tobias glanced around the truck and again considered it to be the worst place he could be and wanted to escape. At the same time escape was the last thing he wanted. What Tobias wanted most was for the overtly lifelike nightmare he was having to end. This couldn't be happening. None of this could be happening. His brother couldn't be dead. Yet there he was sitting lifeless beside him with some weird spike sticking out of his chest.

"Shit! Hold on!"

Benjamen's voice snapped Tobias's attention to what he could make out from the front of the vehicle, which wasn't much considering how small he was. The only thing he could see was what looked like an endless shower of bright yellow suns falling down towards Genseea. His sister had taught him about the phenomenon once. It was called a meteor shower. Was that where the explosion came from? A meteor? If it was just a big hunk of space rock then why was his brother dead with a large spike sticking out of his chest? What was happening?

"What are we going to do!" Abigale clung to her husband's arm. "Benjamen!" She couldn't help glancing back at and calling out to her dead son once more.

"I don't know!" Benjamen hesitated for a heart wrenching second, his foot still planted firmly on the gas. "Fort Rambard! It's our only shot!"

"Ben it's five miles away!" Abigale shouted.

"Baby it's our only shot!" Benjamen glanced back at his children, wincing at the sight of his dead son. "You kids get on the floor! Get away from the seat!"

Tobias immediately obeyed his father, too scared to think about anything he was doing. Although a few seconds slower, Rebbecca eventually sunk down to the floor. However, her eyes remained centered on her lifeless brother.

"Now y'all don't worry about a thing. Don't panic. Yer ol' pa's gonna get us outah this mess." Benjamen promised them.

XXXX

"It just..." Tobias turned his eyes from the former reporter. "People say that pain heals." He took a long swig from his third can of beer. "I say that any sum'bitch that tries to _explain_ how people _normally_ react to disasters and the loss of family is a piece'ah dumb fuck shit!" His hand slammed the empty beer can onto the counter beside his chair and Benson instantly appeared beside him with another fresh can. "No one..." Tobias continued after cracking open the fresh can. "No on can explain what _anyone_ is going through or how _anyone_ will react to those kind of situations." He leaned forward and glared directly into the camera. "An no one ever gets over anythin' involvin' the loss o' family. The pain never _subsides_ and it damn sure never goes away. It stays the same every god dang day."

XXXX

Five miles. His mom had said that Ft. Rambard was five miles away. How long had they been driving? Tobias knew that his dad's truck could reach speeds of up to one hundred and thirty miles per hour so he knew that five miles shouldn't be taking this long. Yet there they were still surrounded by trees not even on the main highway that led to the base. What made things worse was the constant growls and screeches Tobias heard emanating from outside the truck. Loud thumps echoed right beside the doors and every now and then something would bump against the side of the vehicle.

"Dad!" Tobias screamed in fear.

"Stay down and keep quiet!" Benjamen snapped.

Abigale turned and placed her shaking hand on Tobias's cheek. "It's ok baby. Everything's gonna be ok." Somehow she managed a soothing smile that brought Tobias a small sliver of comfort. "Everything's going to be..."

Her smile was always so beautiful, Tobias thought. No one could ever smile like his mom. Every time she smiled he wanted to smile and every time she wasn't smiling he smiled just so she would want to. In his mind there was something mystical about the effect her smile had on him and the world around him. When his mother had placed her hand on his cheek and gave him her soothing reassuring smile, Tobias knew that everything would be ok. Unfortunately for the young boy there was nothing mystical about his mother's smile. Like Tobias she was only human and regardless of how beautiful her smile was it could not stop what would happen a split second after her face formed it. A loud inhuman screech followed by the sound of wind gushing beneath two massive wings flowed into Tobias's ears. As the split second came to end his now widened eyes took in a horrifying sight just over his mother's shoulder. Two large spikes connected to an unbelievably large scorpion-like tail smashed through the front of the pickup truck. Just one of the spikes was larger than the entire truck so instead of impaling the two humans seated in the front of the vehicle it instead squashed them both between the remains of the destroyed windshield and the front seats.

The truck was lifted up off the dirt trail and flung carelessly into the air by the alien monster. After two minutes of sailing through the air Tobias could no longer hear anything. Not even the ear piercing shrieks from his sister. The only thing he could see was the last image he had of his mother smiling with her hand pressed tenderly against his cheek. The only thing that brought his mind back into focus with reality was the violent crash that followed the truck landing upside down beside the main highway. Usually not busy until at least an hour later in the morning, no other vehicles were traveling along the road. The red pickup had been launched at an angle and traveled on a low arc never raising above ten feet from the ground. When it landed the broken vehicle skid fifty feet along the grass before finally coming to a halt.

Tobias was frozen, almost pinned to the torn roof of the truck. Pure terror was etched across the boy's face. Slowly, his body began to twitch. After that his limbs began to tremble. Finally after nearly a minute certain sections of his body such as his arms or legs spontaneously began to jerk and convulse uncontrollably. Short helpless whimpers flowed from his lips as he lay halfway on the ground and halfway on his father's truck. Suddenly he felt two arms wrap around his small body and a loud fearful whimper escaped him along with several tears that streamed from his eyes.

"Shh..." Rebbecca's weakened voice flowed into his ears. "It's ok."

Rebbecca glanced around the destroyed remains of her father's truck, unintentionally giving her little brother a full view of the splattered remains of his dead parents.

"No!" Tobias shrieked into an uncontrollable fit of screaming and crying.

Rebbecca instantly turned Tobias's head away from the bodies and held him tightly, burying his face into her chest. "Shh..." She tried her best to imitate her dead mother's warm embrace. "It's ok baby." Her lips caressed the side of Tobias's head with an affectionate kiss as she rocked back and forth and rubbed his back soothingly. "It's ok."

Tobias's screaming soon ceased but his tears would not stop flowing as he held on to his sister not knowing what else to do. A familiar lullaby that his mother used to sing to him only a few years ago began to flow from his sister's lips. However, as if fate was determined to deny the boy any form of comfort a loud metal grinding slash echoed into Tobias's ears ending the lullaby two seconds after it began.

Rebbecca looked up in fear as the destroyed door of the destroyed pickup truck was ripped from its hinges by a hideously terrifying brown creature. The beast stood taller than the biggest dog Rebbecca had ever seen and snarled at the live meat in front of it as drool gushed in-between its razor sharp fangs.

Tobias slowly turned his head from the warmth of his sister's chest and stopped as his left eye took in the sight of the monster's two red eyes. Again Tobias pleaded with whatever was causing everything around him to happen to let him wake up safe and sound in his bed. He promised that he wouldn't give his dad a hard time waking up or upset his sister by reminding her that part of her heritage was rooted in a redneck culture. He promised that he would listen to his mother and try better to talk his way out of problems rather than resort to violence and he also promised that he would stick up more for his dad's way of handling things because at some point all bullies needed a good whack on the head.

Tobias's promises were in vein.

Rebbecca turned and quickly shoved her brother towards the opposite door in the back of the truck where her brother's corpse still clung to the seat. "Tobias! Run!"

A loud agonized scream from his sister shattered Tobias's fear. Rebbecca was the only family member he had left and he wasn't about to let some alien monster take her away from him. He reached out, tears blurring his vision and grabbed her forearm. All of his adrenaline induced strength did nothing to prevent the creatures from pulling his shrieking sister from his grasp.

"Rebbecca!" Tobias shouted through drool and snot as he continued to cry.

The monsters bit and clawed at the unfortunate young woman as she frantically yet pointlessly tried to scramble away from the beasts. "Run!" Was the last blood curdled scream she could manage before her body was literally ripped apart and feasted upon by the creatures right in front of her younger brother's eyes.

Tobias's eyes remained locked on the creatures fighting amongst each other over one of his sister's arms. It wasn't until one of the monsters' red eyes glared a hole through him did he turn and begin scrambling over his dead brother towards the other side of his dead father's pickup truck. However, before he could reach the handle he felt a sharp pain shoot up his left leg and screamed while tightly clutching the roof of the truck. As his eyes glanced back, Tobias caught a glimpse of one of the monsters that had one of its claws sunk deep into his leg. Tobias lashed out with his arms reaching desperately for anything to grab onto. The only thing sturdy enough he could manage to cling to was the spike still buried deep within his brother's chest. Tobias screeched in pain as the monster pulled with immense power at its potential meal lifting the young boy into the air. The only thing keeping Tobias alive was the spike flung from the monster that had murdered his brother and his hands were slowly beginning to slip.

XXXX

Tobias leaned back in his seat and for a moment, gently caressed his left leg with his left hand. "That was the worst day'ah my life." Tobias sighed. "Bad thing is." Tobias took a large gulp from his can of beer. "The day hadn't even gotten started yet."


End file.
